Events

Hamline School of Education alum rides second self-built electric motorcycle to a second speed record.

Kevin Clemens loves green vehicles, especially those that go fast.

Last year, Clemens, who holds a graduate degree in environmental education from Hamline, set a national land speed record of 61.55 miles per hour for "un-streamlined electric motorcycles” in his custom bike’s weight class – under 150-kg. The record was made while participating in the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Now, he plans to return in the coming weeks and break that record, and set a new world record with a second electric motorcycle that he built himself.

“The electrification of vehicles is the way forward to save the environment and end our addiction to oil,” Clemens said. “But everyone has golf-carts; I wanted to race something like a motorcycle to show electric vehicles can be fun.

“Education is the future and the way to change the world,” Clemens said. “I wanted to be able to teach younger generations because they’re going to be the ones who will solve our problems of oil addiction and climate change.”

Clemens also worked on a project with Hamline’s Center for Global Environmental Education to document the history of environmental teaching in Minnesota by interviewing early, key leaders in the field. Check out the amazing footage from his helmet camera during the record-setting run.